This Is Power
How fearful are you? Here is a video that talks about how God can empower you.
The raw power of a storm is magnificent – the towering ominous clouds, the announcement of rumbling thunder, the unrestrained force of the gusting wind. A storm is one of those unique opportunities in life where a person can watch the dynamic strength of nature – the same sort of unfettered energy found in an unstoppable hurricane, a supercharged bolt of lightning, or in the gentle caress of the sun.
As a human spectator, I am in awe of such power. It reminds me of my place in the world, and that there is greater power beyond that which my own two hands can accomplish.
Matthew 19:26 reads, “With man this is impossible, with God all things are possible.”
With God everything is possible. This is a phrase that can not be applied to something even as powerful as the sunshine or an earthquake. The difficulty I have is that I view God’s power in much the same way I view human power. When given power, I tend to abuse it after a time and I’m not alone in this.
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Wealth, status, and power tend to distort one’s way of thinking in our culture. Dictators with unchecked power have destroyed millions of lives in an attempt to retain power. The wealthy in our world continue to prey on the less fortunate. Nations go to war over self-interest in their pursuit of furthering their own territory. One of the beliefs of the Christian faith is that God has absolute power to do as He sees fit.
When God looks over creation, how exactly does He use His absolute power? Is God the friendly hotel manager, who welcomes me in and makes sure my room is clean (forgives our sin), but in the end just wants my money (life)? Or does He abuse His power like the crazed scientist, and create cruel circumstances to see how I’ll react?
I get a glimpse of the power of God in Amos 1:2, where it reads, “The Lord roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; The pastures of the shepherds dry up and the top of Carmel withers.”
In the Bible, God takes on different names to convey the attribute that best describes His character in that particular moment. “The Lord is my shepherd” is one example, where God is shown to be a gentle and wise leader.
In this scenario, The Lord roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem.
I recently experienced this sort of unbridled power while hiking in the mountains. I’m not savvy on wildlife behavior, and the dominant thought during my hike involved how to avoid being eaten by animals who jump out of trees. As I hiked further from my vehicle and the trees closed in, one thought pressed in on my mind:
“Could I kill a bear with my bare hands?”
The thought of a bear, with power coursing through every muscle fiber, charging at me while I patiently waited for the moment to lock my hands around its neck and squeeze for dear life didn’t make me feel more brave. It was an experience much like telling ghost stories around the campfire. It just made everything that much scarier.
Terrifying, to say the least.
Amos 1:2 constructs an image of God as a roaring lion ferociously attacking, ripping apart its prey with both efficiency and brute strength. Is this an example of God using His sheer power to terrify a group of people because He’s bored and He wants to see some excitement? Or is this an example of something else?
In Amos’ day, exploitation, wealth, and profit were the societal hallmarks. The rich owned several houses and could afford to do whatever they pleased. Moral standards, authority and rule of law were afterthoughts. Society had lost its awe of God and who He was.
North American culture is in much the same rut as the Israelite culture of Amos’ day. As a resident of that culture, I comfortably live in that same mindset, where possessions are collected, wealth is pursued, and morality becomes increasingly gray. And yet God is powerful enough, concerned enough, loving enough to roar like an untamed lion because He sees that it is not the fullness of life that He has intended. He is roaring not out of a bloodlust for destruction, but because He is a God who is intent on saving His people from their bondage to materialism and greed.
I am in awe of such power. The God of the universe is roaring.
Questions: How does your life compare to that of Amos’ day? What steps do you need to take in order to make a change more pleasing to God?
About the Author Shaun Smith
The first similarity to Amo’s time is the humanism. Regardless of the time in history we are all human beings who are sinners. I think life today is much more ‘me, me, me’ in many respects. Life today is faster, made to be easier so we don’t have to work as hard, everything is convenient.
I need to continue to make God the focus of why I am here. I need to daily be thankful and humbled of the gift of life that God has graciously given me. Sometimes I feel I don’t deserve it and then He reminds me that I am forgiven.
Every where you go you find that people that don’t have want and people that do have want more, and that can be power, money, popularity, etc. and that is also in the church unfortunately. But I am glad that God is keeping us that are listening humble, because when He roars I stop and pray for those that have not developed the ear to hear, sometimes it just takes longer for some. Praise God and Thank You for you insight.